More signs of the Web 2.0 bubble

I saw this the other day and groaned: 20 Smart Companies to Start Now

Its basically a wish list from a bunch of venture capitalists of companies they would like to fund (read: would like to see started so they can get a big chunk of it so that when it gets taken over they get a ton of money). The list ranges from the interesting to the insane, as most lists like this would. But one thing I noticed where a couple of entries that read more like a Nigerian Scam.

A few VC’s were offering a small amount of money, but wanting to see a “proof of concept” site with customers. That strikes me as odd because if a startup were able to get to that point, why would they need the VC cash? Having customers is a huge step, at that point you’re probably already bringing in some money. And I can understand that the VC’s don’t want to throw cash at just anyone, but bringing a site/product to life usually doesn’t happen for free for the developers.

Part of me knows that they are doing this to try and prevent a bubble-type-situation where money is flowing like crazy to anyone who can string together enough words to form a sentence. But another part of me thinks that these requests are going too far in the other direction. Especially since some of the requests are derivative products (as opposed to completely new ideas).